We’re nearing the end of our renovation, which means Mike and I have been busy painting walls before we move in. Right now, my gameplan is to paint everything pretty much the same color. I don’t want to rush into making any big design choices until we’ve lived in the space (unless you count tearing down walls).
When we paint, Mike usually does the rolling, and I do the trim work and cutting in. He can reach a lot higher than me, and his football knees don’t allow him to squat down to paint baseboard quite as well.
We’re going with Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore on our walls (in eggshell). It’s a creamy white neutral paint color, and I love the hint of warmth that it provides. I’ve used it in our other homes in Virginia (my first house where I started this blog!), and it plays nicely with traditional decor. I’m using it in all of our downstairs rooms, including the kitchen.
>>Watch a video of the paint colors here <<
I’m using Decorator’s White in a satin gloss for our trim. It’s a brighter but more neutral white (no cool or warm undertones.) Even though they’re both in the white family, Decorator’s White makes the Swiss Coffee look a lot more creamy.
On my staircase, I wanted just a pop of color on the risers, but I wanted it to be subtle. I ordered some paint samples from Samplize, and they arrived the next day. I’ve been ordering from them for a few years now, and I’ll never get samples any other way. I love that I can reuse the samples and reposition them on other walls in the same room (the color will change depending on the light the wall receives).
I also save all of my samples in a folder, so it’s easy for me to leaf through them. I’ve created my own little color catalog this way. It’s much easier than storing tiny jars of paint samples in the garage.
Anyway, I ended up going with Borrowed Light by Farrow and Ball for the stairs in high gloss. I love a glossy, enameled look, and this really achieves it. The color is also so subtle. In daylight, it’s the faintest of blues, and I suspect it will have house guests wondering “Is that blue on the stairs? Or is that just the light?” By night, it definitely looks more blue.
I loved it so much – this is my Achille’s Heel of temptations – that as I was painting the stairs, the back of our front door was staring me down. It begged to be painted! It was previously done in a flat white, no shine or gloss at all. Not even a satin! A travesty…
So while my first coat on the stairs dried, I painted the back of the door (I had previously primed it, knowing I wanted to do something with it). Man, it was love at first coat! If you need a great door color with your white walls, I can’t recommend it enough. Also, the high gloss looks great on the door. It made it look brand new. If you love those super shiny doors that almost look like glass, this is about as close as you can get in the DIY world.
The floors were sanded yesterday, and today the stain goes down! I can’t wait for the last step on the staircase project. Stay tuned.
